How do you tell if SPS needs more/less light?

[Meshmez]

Im new to the SPS world, and im having a hard time finding an answer on how to determine if SPS need more or less light. I know they can bleach out from too much light, but they do that with too little light as well, right? I also thought PE was a sign, but i have heard that some SPS will have almost no PE when others will have a lot. If an SPS coral DID have a lot of PE and then all of a sudden doesnt, or vice versa, what would that mean? (assuming all other parameters are the same.) just trying to get a feel for knowing how to properly place SPS and adjust their placement as needed.

 

[karsseboom]

I watch for bleaching. If the corals brown I'll raise it up if the corals bleaching them I'll lower it's placement.

 

[sonnus]

White = too much light
Brown = too little light

It takes the coral a few days or even a few weeks before you'll notice any change. It's always best to ask what the lighting and placement were of the donor colony so you can try to match placement in your tank.

I usually put the corals on my sandbed for a day or two to let them acclimate to the new tank. Then I slowly move them up in the tank every couple of days until they are where I want them. If you do this you'll rarely ever get any bleaching of your new frags

 

[divewsharks]

to answer your other question, PE by itself is not directly a strong indicator of coral health. Some corals have a lot of PE all the time (milli's), some have it only at night, some have some during the day and more at night. It could be a sign of not enough current, it could be a sign something is nipping at it during the day (or at night), could be poor water quality, or imbalance of parameters or it could mean next to nothing at all -- it really depends on the coral, the conditions it is in and the organisms that surround it. After that (plus history if it is a captive piece) you can establish a baseline, and begin troubleshooting from there.

 

[Meshmez]

thank you all for the responses.

I figured PE would be a pretty useless indicator, but good to know about the brown/white, i had thought they could white out from too little light as well.

 

[scrapz]

i notice if it needs more light it will continue to grow upwards then begin to "table" once it reaches adequate light